We have a great 10 game slate to look forward to in the NBA this Tuesday, the 27th of February. After a disappointing 0-3 day on Saturday in our return from the all-star break, we’ll be looking to bounce back here as we preview and give our tips for some of the key games in Tuesday’s slate.
Golden State Warriors at New York Knicks (11.30am AEDT)
The New York Knicks have now been without all-star power forward Kristaps Porzingus for six games after the Latvian tore his ACL before the break. They have won only one of those six games, and while they’ve remained competitive in most of the others, there’s a serious lack of firepower in their rotation without Porzingus. Tim Hardaway Jr, Enes Kanter and Michael Beasley have had to pick up the scoring slack, but they’ll get an extremely tough test on Tuesday as the Warriors come to town.
The Warriors have lost four of their last 10 games in what can only be described as a slump by the Warriors lofty standards. However, those losses have come to some quality teams in the Blazers, Jazz and Thunder. No injury concerns to any of their key players here so the Warriors start as big 12 point favourites away from home.
The Warriors have played six of their last seven games at home so should be feeling pretty fresh as they embark on this three game Eastern Conference road-trip. They are coming off a huge 32-point win over the Thunder on Sunday so they could be over the slump. We think they cover the big line here.
TIP: Golden State -12 - $1.95 at Sportsbet
Detroit Pistons at Toronto Raptors (11.30am AEDT)
A big Eastern Conference battle here as the Pistons travel to Toronto to take on the Raptors. Toronto have been on fire of late, winning eight of their last 10 games to lead the conference marginally over the Celtics. They’ll need to continue winning if they hope to secure the number one seed and the home court advantage throughout the conference playoffs, especially against other Eastern Conference teams.
The Pistons have been a little inconsistent since adding Blake Griffin via trade just before the all-star break. A little time to adjust might be in order for Detroit, but with just five wins in their last 10 games, they have now slid outside the top eight in the East. At just 9-18, they have won of the worst away records in the Eastern Conference, while the Raptors have been near perfect at home with a 24-5 record.
The Raptors start as 10.5 point favourites here. They had a similar line to overcome against the Bucks on Saturday and couldn’t get the job done. While they have been extremely impressive of late, we think that they will win this game but the 10.5 points is a little too many here.
TIP: Detroit Pistons +10.5 - $1.95 at Sportsbet
Houston Rockets at Utah Jazz (1pm AEDT)
The Rockets boast the best record in the NBA and have won their last 12 games in a row. Since the all-star break they have carried on their winning ways, downing a tough Minnesota team by 18 points followed by a classy win in Denver by five points. James Harden continues to assert his favouritism for MVP honours, dropping 31 and 41 in the two games since the break respectively.
If any team can match Houston’s form of late, it’s the Jazz. Utah have won 12 of their last 13 games and since the return of some key players from injury, have looked like the dominant Jazz defence of the 2016-17 season. In that 13 game stretch, they have allowed over 100 points on just four occasions, making the matchup against the offensive juggernaut Rockets a mouth-watering clash.
Really tough game to call here, the Rockets have started as slight 2.5 point favourites for the game, but we are going to steer clear of that line because we think this could go either way. One thing we like is for this to be a bit more of a shootout then the Jazz are used to. The last seven games involving the Jazz have been under 212 total points, but they have shown their propensity to score with the best of them throughout their recent form spike. They have scored over 115 five times in their last 10 games and should again against the lacklustre defence of Houston.
TIP: Total points OVER 212 - $1.95 at Sportsbet
